Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1887-06-16
FROM MAINE TO CUBA.
A CORRESPONDENT COVETS A SEA
VOYAGE BY SAIL.
Loaded with Shocks for Cuba-Tells His
Experiences with the Captain and Nor
allies on Sailors in General.

Special Correspondence
Boston, May 23.-Down in old Port
land town by the docks and slips; down
there where the tide rises and falls, and
the waters of the sea gurgle and splash
among the rotting piers; down where
it is ever damp and dank with spray and
foam from the fretful movements of the tugs
and steamers; down where the splendid air
Of the sea forever battles with the reeking
odors of decaying fish and the ooze and slime
of city, lay the Uranus, sunk in mud half
fathom, for the tide was out, and whatever
of her black, old hull was above the mud was
buried out of sight, save her jibboom, spank
er boom and spars, by great load of
"shooks," lashed and stayed and battened in
place until the little castle and the as little
cabin and bulky fife .ils were fairly hidden
from sight.
The old Uranus was a three masted
laden with "shooks" consigned to Havana and
some miscellaneous goods for Nassau, BAHIA
mas; and when she had Cleared for her
ocean venture her manifest showed that, for
this voyage, she was entitled to carry zone
master, two mates one cook, five seamen and
one passenger" /, an humble American
journalist, in search of health and experience,
differing from those of the aristocratic liter
ators who travel on passes and do Europe in
a month, was that same one passenger; and
if had any romantic notion about desiring
! queer company, cramped quarters, tough fare
and royalty rough voyage, my most ex-
travagant aspirations were to be realized.
Our captain was what might be conciselv
described as an Awful Presence.
Born among the rocks of Maine, he had
been reared in infinite penuriousness and
picked in salt water and whisky. He was, in
fact, a sort of tough old "Finnan Haddie, -
dry and thin as a herring. and salter and
dirtier than the worst old bitter mackerel ever
left over IN the rock salt of q cast away fish
tub. He was proud of filth gloated in gen.
| eral meanness, swore awful oathS simply to
enjoy the horror they caused, reveled in rag
| ged clothing because the ship owners objected
| to it, and seemed to perennially enjoy sort
| of inner ecstasy i'll anything on the line of
| miscellaneous cusSedness. He was Iall gaunt
| skinny. His face was cadaverous red, bleary
| His little green eyes, no bigger than peas
were set away back underneath perfect for
ests OF red eyebrows; and his otherwise
! picturesque face was given sublime atrocity
of expression by wide nouth, ever open,
and monstrous teeth, always set as if biting
quick and hard through all opposition all of
which was half revealed, but strongly intensi-
fed by tremendous mustache, usually orna-
mented with divers well defined stalactites of
frozen tobacco juice and drool.
| l am safe in the interests of historical
accuracy in saying these things, because
shall take good care to never meet this par
| ticular salt water hell kite again But can
never forget my negotiations with him for the
voyage, no more than the voyage itself.
| A "ift at the log" meant the keeping of the
| ships log during the voyage, which l mod
| estly assisted in; and the greasy old record
will bear witness, in my humble chirography,
| to a real land lubbers earnest efforts to put
in proper sea language each days and nights
events, the queer impressions of the ships
officers, the countless reckonngs, shiftings,
changings and occurrences, which maritime
law makes stand as inviolable evidence of the
doings of a vessel and those responsible for
her safety.
Soon came bowling January night and
| our captain would wait no longer for fair
weather. So we left the old seaport city of
which Longfellow wrote:
Iremember the black wharves and the ships,
And the sea tides tossing free;
And the Spanish sailors with bearded lips
Anu Utduty Sltly Cl the SHIPS,
And the magic of the sea.
There were no beauty and mystery of the
ships that evening. The magic of the sea had
evidently knocked off, too. True enough, as
the sun went down behind the town there was
much to see as our snorting tug jerked and
hauled our vessel through the choppy waves
of the bay. But it was ghastly, bitter
dreary, awful seaward in every recognition
and glimpse. That, perhaps. added real
magic to what was being left behind In
that sense old Portland town grew little and
snug nest like and dear as it receded
But the tug is steaming back to port, the
sun has gone down behind the land, the city
lights show family in the far distance, the
great lights from Portland Head and Half
way Rock fash angrily, all sail is set, "four
bells' clangs and booms from the fife rails
hoarsely: we are alone in the night upon
savage sea, and
"Grub,"
Our captain stood in the companion way
and glared up at me from the cabin, as, half
frozen, shivered among the "shooks" by the
creaking mizzen mast. "Grub!' he chopped
out of his fang like teeth "An," he con-
tinued in naughty vein, "grub's grub on
this vessel. We has no style; IN no grub
amt sent to private rooms neither!"
Ipawed my way along the shocks tow
ard the cabin. The schooner came up and
struck me a few times squarelv, as if deter
mined ON intimacy. l got down the narrow
companion way easier-in heap, as it were
That cabin was about six feet square, sitting,
sinking, startling Our captain and his two
mates were clinging to a dimnutive shelf
table with one hand, and with the other
shoveling in great hunks of bread and half
cooked pork, and snort.ng and gasping over
black coffee and blacker dried apple sauce.
One swinging lamp revealed a sallow eyed,
villianous cook crouching in the pantry door,
with a grim smile on his buckwheat cake face
as he critically saw me plunge to my stool at
the table.
had been over and over the sea, and i'm
agined was sailor. l put my whole hu-
man power into being brave and looking
wise.
Our captain laughed outright. So did the
mates. The cook would have done so, had he
not rammed a towel in his mouth and choked
it off.
aW'atll We 'ave!" asked the captain, grin
ming.
aOh, anything" l airily replied, with a
mighty effort.
He put few pounds of pork on my plate,
rising and falling from his tiptoes with the
motion of the ship Still continuing in this
easy and graceful attitude, be waved tre-
mendous fork high in air and thus laid down
1~v